Hey everyone! I’ve always loved writing and storytelling, and lately I’ve been really interested in making stories more interactive — like where readers can make choices, see visuals, or explore different paths based on their decisions.

But honestly, it’s been hard to find a simple way to do that without coding or having a full dev team 
So I’m just curious:

• Has anyone here tried making interactive stories before?

• What tools do you use?

• What do you wish existed to make the process easier or more fun?

Would love to hear your thoughts — whether you’re a writer, reader, or just curious about this kind of storytelling!

I think my suggestion might be to give consideration to making tabletop games.

This might also open you up to a lot of extra resources, since there can be a lot of available resources when it comes to systems, etc.

if you're looking at making a visual novel, which is like a Choose You Own Adventure book in video game form, you can start with using Google Slides, which is Googles free alternative to Power Point

I use Twine and my own engine. Tried Ren'Py too, once, and tools like Inform or TADS in the past. Not sure what tools would help outside of generic mapping and outlining software. The hard part is making choices fun if not meaningful.

a simple way to do that without coding 

If you want branching, reacting to previous decisions and such, that is coding. Wether you do it with actual code or some visual buttons and diagrams or whatever.

So what you might actually seek is no code tools. For games. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=no+code+tools+for+games&ia=web

 Would be interesting if someone can recommend some of those specifically for making story games. Which proably means visual novels.

 it’s been hard to find a simple way to do that

Of course, a complex system couldn't be simplified that easy.

Though it's not the tool or code that you need, it's how to make each choice interesting and how to make multiple various choices.

Thanks so much for all the replies — this has been super helpful!
I’m currently doing some research around interactive storytelling and how creators are using (or struggling with) different tools to bring their ideas to life.
If anyone here would be open to a short chat (15–20 mins) to share more about your experience — what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what you wish existed — I’d really appreciate it. It’s just a casual conversation, and your insights could really help shape something better for creators.
Feel free to comment or DM me if you're up for it. Thanks again!